Sri Lanka's main opposition party, the United National Party, warned Tuesday that the presidential elections due to be held on Thursday could become violent.

G.L Peiris, spokesman of the United National Party, told reporters that a large number of military deserters had been despatched by a group of government supporters to outer districts in order to intimidate voters.

"Their job is to frighten voters by curbing free exercise of franchise," Peiris said, adding that the ultimate objective was to ensure less people voted at the election.

Since the campaigning began in early October, the poll has been of a less violent nature compared with Sri Lanka's usual record of violent elections on previous occasions, independent election observers have noted.

The official campaigning ended midnight on Monday and some 13.3 million voters are eligible to vote on Thursday to elect the country's next president for a term of six years.

The main opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the incumbent prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse are the front runners among 13 candidates who are in the fray.

The troubled North and Eastern provinces is under focus as the Tamil Tigers have called for people to show disinterest in the poll.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) dissident faction led by Karuna, the residents of Eastern province said had warned people to stay away from supporting Wickremesinghe.

Source: Xinhua